# Let the holiday mini rants begin **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 22, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501 "2009-11-22T05:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/61 "2009-11-24T04:10:04Z")
Motherfuckin’ _humbug_, know what I’m sayin’? ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/62 "2009-11-24T04:15:34Z")
**Carol Stream** : like a 24/7 holiday station only it plays blind idiot rage, and is arguably less entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/63 "2009-11-24T04:22:26Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > **Carol Stream** : like a 24/7 holiday station only it plays blind idiot rage, and is arguably less entertaining. Oh please, I don’t even know who you are. Get up off me. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/64 "2009-11-24T04:31:25Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Not really. Many people have switched to LED holiday lights. Much more efficient. Maybe .05 watts/bulb as compared to [.5 watts/mini-incandescent, or 5-6 watts for a large incandescent.](http://phil.greenoptions.com/2008/06/27/how-to-calculate-the-energy-savings-of-switching-to-led-christmas-lights/). So lighting up for the holidays probably takes 1/10 - 1/100 less energy than in previous years. . Damn secularists! ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/65 "2009-11-24T05:26:04Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > Happy Shut-Your-Cake-Hole-mas. Start celebrating it. The most awesome holiday. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/66 "2009-11-24T05:59:00Z")
Boy, the Yuletide jollies have certainly gotten an early start this year. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/67 "2009-11-24T06:31:22Z")
I’m a solitary type of person. A long weekend where I can just relax and do my own thing alone is extremely relaxing and something I’m very thankful for. Going to a big, chaotic gathering featuring food I can’t stand and where I don’t know most of the people is _incredibly stressful_ for me. Please stop assuming that the fact that I politely declined your invitation for Thanksgiving day means I’m going to spend the entire weekend sitting in a dark corner sobbing into a bottle of whiskey. Also, if you want to play Christmas music - or any, but particularly godawful Muzaky Christmas tunes - in your office, fine. Shut your fucking office door. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/68 "2009-11-24T06:33:19Z")
> [@Carol\_Stream](#): > > You’ve not answered the question. Are you a passive-aggressive jerk IRL, too? Sorry troll find another billygoat. I’m off to kick puppies and cut the cords on all the neighbors christmas lights. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/69 "2009-11-24T08:10:48Z")
The problem is not that we hate Christmas, so much as we hate the fact that it starts in September, before most of us have our shit together for Halloween. Fuck the news douches and money grubbing assclowns who run stories on how dangerous it is to go out on Black Friday, and then show 9 commercials after that for everything-must-go Christmas shopping hullaballoo-palooza sales ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/70 "2009-11-24T09:02:19Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > You know, I rant about detailed laws as much as the next person, but this is WHY we need laws. In at least some jurisdictions, if a store offers a free item with a purchase, it has to detail the minimum purchase AND what the free item consists of. Every “buy one get one free” offer I’ve ever seen has fine print saying that the free item will be the cheaper of the two items, for instance. > > I think that you should have contacted the store manager, and if you didn’t get satisfaction, contact the regional manager. Yeah, it’s a little thing, but they probably get a lot of customers who don’t want those damned jigsaws if they’re not told, up front, that the free jigsaw was a 250 piecer. I’d be happy with picking out a couple of thousand piece puzzles, and then a couple of smaller puzzles for free, if I knew about it beforehand. If I expected to get two larger ones for the price of one, and then got into an argument with the clerk, I’d probably just drop both of them on the counter, and call the manager. Most people would probably just leave…and not set foot in ToysRUs for the rest of the year. Since TRU needs to make its nut for the year during the next six weeks, this store could lose a LOT of customers this way. I think you misread. The card said buy one 1000 jigsaw and get the next half price. The checkout girl was telling me the card was totally wrong and should have read get a 250 piece puzzle free. I guess I should have contacted the manager but in all honesty I don’t have the time for all this BS, I just take my business elsewhere and never go back to the offending store again. I’m fast running out of stores 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/71 "2009-11-24T09:33:38Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](#): > > I flew from Rome to Madrid on Iberia… That there was your mistake. Oh wait. The other option would be Alitalia. Boy, that’s one screwed up route for choice, innit? ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/72 "2009-11-24T09:47:46Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Oh no you di’nt! That’s the second worst day of the year (the worst being, of course, the aptly named Black Friday). Trust me, the 26th Dec is a fine day as far as I’m concerned. I know the post-hexmas sales start with a vengeance that day but I have no intention of venturing out into that particular level of hell. My day will involve getting up late, watching films and drinking wine. There will definitley be no going out of the house! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/73 "2009-11-24T14:38:07Z")
God bless the Sainted Holy Mute Button. It’s taken a few days to get the old holiday reflexes back, but now I automatically mute in time to silence the Obnoxious Gap Singers, the buy-her-jewels-or-no-nookie ads and the gee-we’re-glad-to-serve-you Walmartians. Viewing in heav-en-ly pea-eace, viewing in heavenly peace. If I go out to the mall, I’m thinking of wearing earplugs, facemask and hazmat containment suit. Perhaps a trifle uncomfortably warm, but it should help clear space for me in the aisles. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/74 "2009-11-24T15:02:42Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > I think you misread. The card said buy one 1000 jigsaw and get the next half price. > > The checkout girl was telling me the card was totally wrong and should have read get a 250 piece puzzle free. > > I guess I should have contacted the manager but in all honesty I don’t have the time for all this BS, I just take my business elsewhere and never go back to the offending store again. > > I’m fast running out of stores 😃 You’re right, I did misread. And I was trying to cook and post at the same time, which is never a good idea for me, because I conflate posts and the recipes and the last time I had an argument with a store clerk (which was about buying one and getting one free, and I DID go to the manager, who saw things my way, or possibly didn’t want to cross a Sicilian when money was on the line). I go to the manager because that’s what they get paid for. And because otherwise I’d soon run out of stores to shop at, otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/75 "2009-11-24T15:37:16Z")
> [@Carol\_Stream](#): > > Oh please, I don’t even know who you are. Get up off me. Naw, I like it, it’s nice and toasty warm with all the impotent rage, and the misguidedness of it makes for a nice diffuse effect. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/76 "2009-11-24T15:52:26Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Awwww Carol, c’mon, let me give you a hug. > > I sense a deep and abiding resentment towards this thread on your part. I wonder why this is? Were you the little kid who got hand-me-down stained underwear from your Grandma for a Xmas gift? Did Santa Claus leave a pat of reindeer shit in your stocking? Did your big brother steal your Barbie doll from under the tree and replace it with a syringe full of speed, nicely gift-wrapped of course? > > Might explain a lotta stuff actually. > > 😃 Someone died and made him/her the Pit Crusader. Meanwhile, I welcome all Christmas wishes only if the person behind it means it. Otherwise I will just ignore it. Since I have no ways of knowing if someone really means it, I just assume that it does. Hey, the benefit of the doubt is a present worth giving too! ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/77 "2009-11-24T16:09:16Z")
I am very cranky just because it’s a very cranky day. My friends are getting on my nerves, it’s cold and cloudy, I have a lot of crap to get done, I’m not feeling well, I really, really hate Thanksgiving for a variety of reasons… so I’m cranky to begin with. Right now I’m sitting in the school library waiting for a friend of mine. I agreed to study with her today because I understand biology and she does not. This is purely for her sake. I study better by myself. She canceled on me last week and this week, gave me this whole “I really need this, no excuses, I promise I won’t cancel again” thing, so I don’t want to cancel on her, but I REALLY want to get the hell out of here. She won’t even be here for another hour, so I’m stuck. I know I’m a jerk for agreeing to do someone a favor and then getting all resentful about it. I’m not going to hold it against her or anything. I just would rather be anywhere else doing anything else right now. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/78 "2009-11-24T16:28:12Z")
To my friends - please stop trying to cheer me up at Christmas. I appreciate the effort, honestly, but it isn’t going to work. The day sucks. I am thousands of miles from my family, and I don’t get my son on Christmas Day. The way I get through that is by working, then having Chinese food and going to a movie with the one friend who does not view it as her mission to make sure I “get in the spirit.” Y’all have known me long enough to know I recover from this. And I am the life and soul of the party 364 days a year. Just give me this one to mope and be miserable, ok? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/79 "2009-11-24T16:47:02Z")
I went to Barnes & Nobles about 3 weeks ago and found out, to my horror, that they were playing Christmas music. In the beginning of November! If the salespeople at the store go on a killing spree in the next month, I would not convict them if I were on their jury. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501/80 "2009-11-24T17:17:05Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I went to Barnes & Nobles about 3 weeks ago and found out, to my horror, that they were playing Christmas music. You’re so lucky. The last time I was in a Barnes & Noble (a week or so ago, maybe) they were playing a really shitty kids’ CD. The volume was up incredibly loud in the DVD/CD section of the store…I don’t know how the clerks could tolerate it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-holiday-mini-rants-begin/518501.md?page=5)